Impact of Social Capital on the Development of Democracy (original) (raw)

Social Capital Promotes Democracy and Economic Stability

ABSTRACT Social capital is a crucial element of developing a society and enhancing the chance of its own state to change to the more progressive way. Nowadays, social capital is considered as an empowerment pillar in the strategy to reduce poverty. Social capital as a variable has extended into three levels; micro, meso and macro, which links both structural and cognitive forms. Social capital has been known as promote and incentive for an efficient and functioning modern economy which opens a path to a stable liberal democracy. Social capital has shown its capacity to strengthen the cooperation and relation between lower and higher rank and to capture the needs to develop further areas of a society. In the core of social capital concept is embodied with some ingredients which give more credibility. Thus, within the concept, social capital is trust, believe and other values that does it more important to maintain stability of the societies. Through operating and utilizing of these norms which cultivates a wealthy climate for co-operations and in so way links more chains to be usefully. In this way the social capital is informal contract which has strong power for democracy and economic stability. The constitution of those components would help social capital to be accounted as an asset for every society. From wide spreading, it gives more beneficiaries for developing and cooperation. The demand to extend virtues of social capital is a request to improve the relations and bound the links in order to achieve and sustain cooperative relations. Also to build a society which is characterized with depths extends democracy and increased economy. Subsequently, that leads to a stable democracy and creates a safety climate in all dimension of the society. The destiny of social capital is seen to be articulated as a doctrine which pervade and hold the safety in the world. Keyword: Social Capital, Democracy, Trust, Value, Norm, Economy, Cooperation

Social Capital: A Tool For Advancing Political Participation?

This paper examines the impact of social capital on political participation. Although this topic has been widely debated since Robert Putnam’s study on civicness in Italy, given two trends that we are experiencing in the world today: drop in political participation and increase of far-right policies, we must revisit theories that offer insight into promotion of democracy. Since social capital is one of the most burning theories on this issue, this essay’s primary focus will be to familiarize the reader with two main viewpoints of social capital, one positive and one skeptic, and in the end to offer an alternative theory on social capital. The first chapter will break down Neo-Tocquevillian argument dominated by Putnam’s idea, while the second one will present the main arguments of the skeptics. In the third chapter, the author will theorize on the concept of social capital coupled with capable agency championed by Anirudh Krishna. The purpose of this paper is to offer a solution to the problem of political participation and improvement of democracy, especially to those who are standing at the forefront of this battle.